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Burma-Shave Lyrics
Licorice tattoo turned a gun metal blue
Scrawled across the shoulders of a dying town
Took the one eyed-jacks across the railroad tracks
And the scar on its belly pulled a stranger passing through
He's a juvenile delinquent, never learned how to behave
But the cops would never think to look in Burma-Shave
And the road was like a ribbon and the moon was like a bone
He didn't seem to be like any guy she'd ever known
He kind of looked like Farley Granger with his hair slicked back
She says, I'm a sucker for a fella in a cowboy hat
How far are you going?
Said depends on what you mean
He says I'm only stopping here to get some gasoline
I guess I'm going thataway just as long as it's paved
And I guess you'd say I'm on my way to Burma Shave
And with her knees up on the glove compartment
She took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like root beer
And she popped her gum and arched her back
Hell, Marysville ain't nothing but a white spotted road
Some nights my heart pounds like thunder
Don't know why it don't explode
'Cause everyone in this stinking town's got one foot in the grave
And I'd rather take my chances out in Burma Shave
Presley's what I go by, why don't you change the stations?
Count the grain elevators in the rearview mirror
She said mister, anywhere you point this thing
It got to beat the hell out of the sting
Of going to bed with every dream that dies here every mornin'
And so drill me a hole with a barber pole
And I'm jumping my parole just like a fugitive tonight
Why don't you have another swig and pass that car if you're so brave
I wanna get there before the sun comes up in Burma Shave
And the spiderweb crack and the mustang screamed
The smoke from the tires and the twisted machine
Just a nickel's worth of dreams and every wishbone that they saved
Lie swindled from them on the way to Burma Shave
And the sun hit the derrick and cast a batwing shadow
Up against the car door on the shotgun side
And when they pulled her from the wreck
You know she still had on her shades
They say that dreams are growing wild
Just this side
Of Burma Shave
Scrawled across the shoulders of a dying town
Took the one eyed-jacks across the railroad tracks
And the scar on its belly pulled a stranger passing through
He's a juvenile delinquent, never learned how to behave
But the cops would never think to look in Burma-Shave
He didn't seem to be like any guy she'd ever known
He kind of looked like Farley Granger with his hair slicked back
She says, I'm a sucker for a fella in a cowboy hat
How far are you going?
Said depends on what you mean
He says I'm only stopping here to get some gasoline
I guess I'm going thataway just as long as it's paved
And I guess you'd say I'm on my way to Burma Shave
She took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like root beer
And she popped her gum and arched her back
Hell, Marysville ain't nothing but a white spotted road
Some nights my heart pounds like thunder
Don't know why it don't explode
'Cause everyone in this stinking town's got one foot in the grave
And I'd rather take my chances out in Burma Shave
Count the grain elevators in the rearview mirror
She said mister, anywhere you point this thing
It got to beat the hell out of the sting
Of going to bed with every dream that dies here every mornin'
And so drill me a hole with a barber pole
And I'm jumping my parole just like a fugitive tonight
Why don't you have another swig and pass that car if you're so brave
I wanna get there before the sun comes up in Burma Shave
The smoke from the tires and the twisted machine
Just a nickel's worth of dreams and every wishbone that they saved
Lie swindled from them on the way to Burma Shave
Up against the car door on the shotgun side
And when they pulled her from the wreck
You know she still had on her shades
They say that dreams are growing wild
Just this side
Of Burma Shave
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
It's a great song, but not the only one on Foreign Affairs - check out "Jack and Neil" and "Sight For Sore Eyes" Anyway, Burma Shave was a shaving product that was advertised from the 30's through the 50's with series' of signs along highways throughout the U.S. Each little poem would be on a series of five or six signs, one line per sign. They were an extremely common sight on highways evrywhere, so "going to Burma Shave" simply means "going further down the road".
Here are a couple samples of Burma Shave slogans from the signs:
His cheek Was rough His chick vamoosed And now she won't Come home to roost Burma-Shave
If your peach Keeps out Of reach Better practice What we preach Burma-Shave
Not exactly Tom Waits quality, but kind of amusing. People were still finding some of the signs as recently as 1986. In contemporary advertising the term "Burma Shave Signs" has come to mean any series of billboards.
This is a fantastic piece of poetry on so many levels. It all starts with using Burma Shave as a symbol for the highways of America, which are symbolic of the American dream and symbolic of the mystery of life on an even deeper level. In the end it's symbolic of death.
From that lofty concept he ranges to simple and beautiful lines like "Her hair spilled out like root beer."
One of the best written songs I have ever heard. Definitely the best song on Americana I've ever heard (though Tom has some other gems on that genre). I'll stop gushing over it now.
//how far are you going he said depends on what you mean he says i'm going thataway just as long as it's paved i guess you'd say i'm on my way to burma shave//
//everyone in this stinking town has got one foot in the grave and i'd rather take my chances out in burma shave//
//anywhere you point this thing has got to beat the hell out of the sting of going to bed with every dream that dies here every mornin//
Everyone's been here. Tired of waking up every morning, seeing your dreams dieing right in front of you. You blame it on this no horse town. You want to get out, and be anywhere but here. There's one road out of town and you want to get as far away as the road will take you. You don't care where you end up, rather take your chances, hell it couldn't be worse.
//smoke from the tires and the twisted machine just a nickel's worth of dreams and every wishbone that they saved lie swindled from them on the way to burma shave//
//and when they pulled her from the wreck you know she still had on her shades they say that dreams are growing wild just this side of burma shave //
It was all a lie. You fooled yourself, thinking that things would be better out there. But they aren't. You can't get where you want to go. At least, not by running away.
There are other songs like this one. Highway 61 by Bob Dylan is the same idea really.
This is a Leonard Cohen, Richard Thompson level of lyrical poetry, and that\'s the highest compliment. \n\nWhen I was a kid, and Rte 66 was still a viable way to get some places in the Southwest, I saw some of these signs. Surprisingly engaging, and Waits\' use of Burma Shave as a mysterious, undefined desert version of Shangri La is perfect, because neither the song nor the protagonists\' quest is about a destination, really.\n\nYou can tell Presley\'s from someplace little different from Marysville, and he wants...something. To be cool, at the very least. And so does she. The wonderful 3rd verse:\n"And with her knees up on the glove compartment\nShe took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like root beer\nAnd she popped her gum and arched her back\nHell, Marysville ain\'t nothing but a wide spot in the road..."\n\nShows clearly: She wants to be cool, too. And there\'s sexual tension in the car, they both know it, but it\'s a long road, so there\'s no rush.\n\nWhen she says: \n"Why don\'t you take another swig\nPass that car, if you\'re so brave\nI wanna get there \'fore the sun comes up\nin Burma Shave"\nShe\'s adopted his "quest". To turn away from the self-destructive aspects...well, that wouldn\'t be cool. Been there, seen that.\n\nThe final result is, of course, tragic, and Waits leaves you with the perception that the mysterioso destination is still there, somewhere past the end of that straight-to-the-horizon road, though your reward might be small:\n\n"And when they pulled her from the wreck\nYa know she still had on her shades\nThey say that dreams are growin\' wild\nJust this side\nof Burma Shave"\n\nBut at least she\'s cool.
The images evoked by these lyrics are so vivid:
the road was like a ribbon and the moon was like a bone... her hair spilled out like rootbeer... -and- when they pulled her from the wreck you know she still had on her shades...
Wonderful. A perfect jewel of storytelling.
this song is wonderful. and foreign affairs such a bad album... anyway, love this track, one of my faves
Just thought I'd add that Burma Shave is some type of shaving product. Apparently the company used to advertise by posting Burma Shave signs all along the highways.
you missed a line " 'how far are you going?' he said 'depends on what you mean, i'm only stopping here to get some gasoline.' " one of my favs by Tom Waits.
It's a great song, but not the only one on Foreign Affairs - check out "Jack and Neil" and "Sight For Sore Eyes" Anyway, Burma Shave was a shaving product that was advertised from the 30's through the 50's with series' of signs along highways throughout the U.S. Each little poem would be on a series of five or six signs, one line per sign. They were an extremely common sight on highways evrywhere, so "going to Burma Shave" simply means "going further down the road".
Here are a couple samples of Burma Shave slogans from the signs:
His cheek Was rough His chick vamoosed And now she won't Come home to roost Burma-Shave
If your peach Keeps out Of reach Better practice What we preach Burma-Shave
Not exactly Tom Waits quality, but kind of amusing. People were still finding some of the signs as recently as 1986. In contemporary advertising the term "Burma Shave Signs" has come to mean any series of billboards.
Every time I pass through Marysville, I think of this song "Hell, marysville ain't nothin' but a wide spot in the road" a great Tom waits storytelling, that I think he did on VH1 storytellers, but that may be incorrect.